Incessant rains, upstream runoffs inundate low-lying areas in Sunamganj

The low-lying rural areas of Sunamganj have been flooded as rivers in the district continued to swell over the past few days due to heavy rains and an onrush of water from the upstream.

The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre of the Bangladesh Water Development Board warned that the Surma, Jadukata and Someshwari rivers could overflow within the next two days and trigger short-term flooding.

The BWDB recorded 150 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours to Friday in Sunamganj, and 275 mm of rainfall at the Lauergar point in the district’s Tahirpur, according to the agency’s Executive Engineer Shamsuddoha.

On Friday, the Surma River was flowing 43 cm below the danger level after rising 24 cm in a day. However, the river’s water level at the district’s Chhatak area was 46 cm above the danger mark. “Currently, a sufficient amount of water has entered the haor wetlands,” the BWDB engineer said.

Meanwhile, the water levels of the Someshwari and Uddakhali rivers in Sunamganj’s Madhyanagar Upazila have risen by as much as a foot since Thursday due to persisent rainfall in the past few days and upstream runoffs.

As a result, floodwaters inundated roads in the upazila’s Chamordani, Bongshikunda and Mohishkhola, causing untold suffering to residents, according to Alamgir Khashru, a local union council chairman.